From Slavery To Independence

SCRIPTURE

“When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, “If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”

~Exodus 13:17, NLT

QUOTE

Independence toward God has in it the seed of real tragedy. Be dependence upon Him has in it the possibility of real independence.

~Clovis Chappell

God could have lead the Israelites up the coast through Philistia which would have been a 10-14 day trip but He intentionally lead them into the wilderness. He wanted to separate them from the world and unto Himself for a time of instruction, training and worship. He wanted to teach them to live by faith so He carried them to a place where He was the only means of survival. Of course He came through with water from the Rock and Manna from heaven. His purpose was to teach them to be totally dependent upon Him. True independence comes when we learn to be totally dependent upon Christ our Savior and Lord. In Egypt [A type of the world] the Israelites were slaves but by rebelling against God they slipped back into a slavery of a different sort; they became slaves to sin. Eventually it cost them their freedom and their land.

• TODAY WE PRAY FOR TEACHERS.
• Winter Bible Study going good: great crowd last night {Only at Sardis Springs}. Bro. Charles and I talked about it last night, they had over 100 in the adult bible study on a Monday Night. I don’t know of one other SBC that does Winter Bible Study, do you? They had a death in their church family {related}: a forty year old mother. She had a bad heart attack. There are people hurting everywhere. We did get some good news from Grand Bay, Bernard’s daughter came through surgery well and they pronounced her cancer free, PTL.
• I am going to do a TOP TEN some day on why Mothers refuse to spell their children’s name correctly and then get ticked when you misspell it. Thank goodness there is only one way to spell Jack is American English: No Jaque is for the Frenchies and Jax is wax with a J, not Jack. A mother told me once that her child’s name was Bailey. I said good, it is about time some one named a kid after me. She said, “No really, her name is spelled Baleigh.” Give me a break!
• Paste from Keri Callahan FACEBOOK PAGE. “Thank you so much to everyone who is still praying and texting and messaging and everyone who has visited and sent stuff. I am extremely blessed to have such wonderful people surround me during this hard time. With that said, yes it’s still hard. I am home, but it hasn’t gotten much better or easier. I’m just honestly ready for all this to be over. I don’t understand why this is happening but it is. I don’t believe I am bein…g punished by God for anything I’ve done; He just sees it in my best interest and his glory for me to go through this, as hard as it may be. People keep telling me I am strong, but I can guarantee you I’m not. I am so weak, but my God is strong. I can’t focus on the WHY bc that won’t get me anywhere; I have to focus on the WHO and the HOPE, which is Jesus Christ. He is literally the only thing getting me through this. I pray God’s light shines through me as much as possible for his glory in the end. It’s not about me.”

  “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” -2 Corinthians 12:9

  

The Unique Son of God

 

 

 

SCRIPTURE

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

~John 1:29, NKJV

QUOTE

Our LORD {Jesus} came down from life to suffer death. The Bread of Life came down to hunger. The Living Water came down to thirst.

~Augustine

Jesus never wrote a book; yet more books have been written about Him than any other figure in history. He never wrote a song but more songs have been written about Him than any figure in history. He never held an office or earned in degrees. He never travelled more than two hundred miles from the place where he was born. Jesus did none of the things we associate with success; He had no credentials but himself.  The only property he had on earth was his clothes. He was homeless for the last three years of his life. Isn’t it amazing twenty centuries have come and gone and today Jesus is the central figure of the human race.

All the actors who use His name in vain, all the judges who mandate evil by decree, all the politicians who feathered their own nest while betraying their constituents and all the presidents that have shamed the office with their immorality and betrayed their oath of office by violating the very constitution they swore to protect: all of them put together have not affected the life of mankind on earth as powerfully as that one solitary unique life.

To simply acknowledge Jesus as a great person, great prophet, or great leader is to insult Him. He is the unique Son of God. He is God incarnate; Son of God and Son of man. He came into this dark sin cursed world to give us a way out. O hallelujah, O what a Savior!

If the above does not fire you up: Listen to this…

• Today we pray for Students: Why don’t we pray for Kane and Kerri. I got Kerri’s age wrong, she is 20 and Kane is 15.
• Deacon’s and Wives Sunday Morning at 9:00: we are going to focus on these children above. Don’t be late!
• Posted a new top ten picking on Adam last night. Don Fields has been sending me some good poems and I posted those to.
• I don’t know where she got her info but Big Mama says “More snow possible next week.” I going to quote Keith on this one, “Unbelievable!”

LCBS LESSON PREVIEW

PROMISED LIKE NO OTHER

Ice breaker–How do you decide whether a person is credible, someone you can trust?

SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 53, NLT

[Note: The Jews have takes Isaiah 53 out of their synagogue readings and I don’t blame them. Isaiah wrote this 800 years before the crucifixion. I have take the liberty to insert Jesus name in place of some of the person pronouns just to give you a better grasp of this incredible prophecy]

Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed His powerful arm? ² My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about Jesus appearance, nothing to attract us to him. ³ Jesus was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. Jesus was despised, and we did not care. ⁴ Yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins! ⁵ But Jesus was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. Jesus was beaten so we could be whole. Jesus was whipped so we could be healed. ⁶ All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on Jesus the sins of us all. ⁷ Jesus was oppressed and treated harshly, yet He never said a word. Jesus was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, He did not open his mouth.⁸ Unjustly condemned, Jesus was led away. No one cared that He died without descendants, that His life was cut short in stream. But Jesus was struck down for the rebellion of my people. Jesus had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But He was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave. ¹⁰ But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush Him and cause Him grief. Yet when Jesus life is made an offering for sin, He will have many descendants. Jesus will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. ¹¹ When Jesus sees all that is accomplished by His anguish, He will be satisfied. And because of Jesus experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for He will bear all their sins. ¹² I will give Jesus the honors of a victorious soldier, because He exposed himself to death. Jesus was counted among the rebels. Jesus bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.

It hurts when we trust someone and they betray that trust by doing something hurtful. Like the little boy in the story, we all get egg on our face at one time or another. Jesus was totally secure in who He was and He never avoided rejection. He knew the Jewish leaders hated Him and yet He sat His face toward Jerusalem. Our goal should be to become more confident in who we are and less fearful of the acceptance of others. It is easier to talk about than to demonstrate.

Testimony

When I was in high school, our football coach made the same basic speech every day. “Guys, if you go out there and work hard today, we will be back in here in the showers in two and a half hours.” He said this everyday. We left the locker room around 3:15-3:30, according to how long he talked and we always came in at dark with was 7:00-7:30. You do the math, anyway you cut it, you are out there more than 2 and half hours. The great thing about fall was it got darker earlier. After a while we stop believing anything the man said. We did not hustle through drills because we knew that regardless, we were going to be there until dark.

I served a small church in Mississippi during my last year in Seminary. We had an alcoholic that the chairman of deacons had taken on as a project and he insisted that I get involved. Actually, his plan was to hand off and he did. It was the same old same old every few months. He would come boo-wooing to me and feeling sorry for himself. I tried being kind–didn’t work. I tried being firm–didn’t work. It reached a point where I was ready to throw my hands in the air. He would make promise after promise if I would only do so in so. I reached a point where I did not believe a word he said.

Discussion Questions

1. What do you call a person that is distrustful of everyone? [Cynical] Do we want to become such a person?
2. One of the many things that makes Jesus unique is that He never breaks a promise. Have you ever broken a promise?
3. Which causes us the most guilt and pain: to hurt another person by breaking a promise or to be hurt by another person breaking a promise to you?
4. If we become cynical and we trust one, how can we build meaningful and lasting relationships?
5. Unlike Jesus, we tend to avoid rejection. In your opinion, what is motivating us to avoid rejection?
6. What are some of the things people do to avoid rejection?
7. Do you agree that most of our fears are connected to the loss of something? What fear is related to rejection?
8. What makes a promise believable?
9. How is your relationship with Jesus different from all other relationships?
10. How important is understanding and empathy in a relationship?
11. Jesus literally bore our sorrows; He was crushed by our sin. He literally took our beating. How does this make you feel about Jesus personally?
12. Knowing yourself and knowing human nature, do you really expect everyone to keep their promise?
13. Jesus is the ultimate Promise Keeper. This is one of the things that make Him unique. How can we as Christians point our friends to Jesus? Why do we need to point others in His direction?

The Happy Man

SCRIPTURE

Happy are those who make the Lord their trust, who do not turn to the proud.

~Psalms 40:4, NRSV

QUOTE

Any faith in Him, however small, is better than any belief about Him, however great.

~George McDonald

I like Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of the above verse, “Blessed in the man who gives himself over to God and turns his back on the world’s ‘Sure Thing.'” When I read this, I thought of Moses. You talk about a sure thing, Moses was an adopted Prince. All he had to do to live a life of wealth and luxury was placate his Egyptians parents. He had been adopted into one of the richest families on the face of the planet but he gave it all up to serve a bunch of ungrateful slaves.

The writer of Hebrews says of Moses. “He chose rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered abuse suffered for the Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the reward.”

I can’t really identify with Moses. I was a 19 years old working my way through Junior College when I surrendered to the gospel ministry. I didn’t walk away from a sure thing. I dreamed of being a coach or a farmer and even then, poor folks didn’t have a chance in farming without some help. I do agree with David, you cannot go wrong by trusting the LORD. He definitely knows what is best and it is for certain, He is the only ONE who can make us happy.

• Supper tonight at 5:30 with AWANA at 6:15 and the GATHERING at 6:30…. I do plan to be there and share a message. 
• Today we pray for the WORLD.
• Sunday is a big day with our offering of OCC Christmas Boxes. I am praying for 200 plus. Remember Holly will be in the Sanctuary from 9:00-9:15 in case you want a pic with your children or grands with a shoe box. June does one for all the grand kids and Mylee did one also which will give us 10. To cap the morning service off, we have a celebration of Baptism. The Children will be with us in the service and they will sing. No Deacon’s meeting this Sunday.
• I walked for the second day but it was cold. I got started late and my thoughts as I came in before dark were: “I’m sure glad I am not homeless.” June and I love our land lord and the cottage he provides. It has been a blessing.
• We clicked over the 100 thousand mark last night: thank you readers one and all. We average 115 hits per day which is up slightly from a year ago. A year ago it was around 75 per day. I love doing them and just glad there is someone to read them. By the grace of God we have posted 1,916 blogs in just over 5 years. I can’t remember what my life was like before the blog.

 Can A Muslim Be a Good American?

First: you need to read this from start to finish. Muslims, even those who profess to be peaceful never denounce the atrocities perpetrated by other Muslims upon Christian and Jews; have you ever wondered why? 

This question was forwarded to a friend of mine who worked in Saudi Arabia for 20 years. The following is his reply:

Theologically— they cannot speak out because of their allegiance is to Allah, The moon god of Arabia.

Religiously— they cannot speak out because no other religion other than Islam is acceptable. It is Islam, the sword or slavery; you take your choice. Freedom of religion does not exist in the world of Islam.v(Quran,2:256)(Koran)

Scripturally— they cannot speak against the Quran which encourages violence against Christians and Jews.

Socially— they do not speak out because their allegiance to Islam forbids them from making friends with Christians or Jews. 

Politically — they do not speak out because they must live in submission to their mullahs [spiritual leaders] who teach the annihilation of Israel and destruction of America, the great Satan.

Intellectually— they cannot speak about anything. Before you can speak intellectually, you have to have intellect. Trust me, no Muslim, peaceful or otherwise is going to uphold or honor the constitution of the United States of America. In this way, they are a kin to democrats.

Philosophically— they will not speak out because Islam does not allow freedom of expression for individual muslims. Again, like a loyal democrat, they have to hold to the party line whether they believe it or not. Freedom and Islam are antithetical, they cannot co-exist together. Every Muslim nation is under dictatorship. No exceptions!

Spiritually— they will not speak out because when we declare ourselves ‘one nation under God,’ and that is offensive to them. Their god allah is not a god of love and he is not a father. Yahweh is loving and kind, while Allah is NEVER referred to as father, nor is he ever called love in the Quran’s 99 excellent names.

Therefore, after much study and deliberation…Perhaps we should be very suspicious of ALL  MUSLIMS in this  country. They obviously cannot be both  ‘good’ Muslims  and ‘good’ Americans. Call it what you wish but in reality, Islam is a threat to freedom and peace. There are no good muslims or bad muslims, just muslims. No peaceful muslims or belligerent muslims, just muslims. The sooner we get this through our thick heads, the better off we will be. 

Editor’s note:

Our political correct politicians and media are dupes. Muslims operate like ancient Eastern Monarchs, the first thing they do when they get power is eliminate the opposition and they will not make a distinction between democrat or republican. Obama showed David Green and Hobby Lobby no mercy, yet he made exceptions for all Muslim owned companies. You see there are two things that Christians and Muslims agree on: Abortion and homosexuality are sins. Obama did not make the Muslim companies enforce the mandate for companies to provide the day after pill due to their religious beliefs but he showed Green no such mercy. Some people believe that he is Muslim Communist: one thing is certain, he sympathizes with Muslims more than he does Christians. I’m talking about real Christians.

 

He Knows Me Inside Out

 

SCRIPTURE

“Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?”

~John 4:29, MSG

QUOTE

The steady discipline of intimate friendship with Jesus results in men becoming like Him.

~Harry Emerson Fosdick

The woman at the well was impressed with Jesus. The thing that astounded her most was that He knew what was in her heart and past. He could read her mind yet He showed interest in her and continued a conversation which most Jews would not have initiated in the first place. Most relationships are casual: intimacy is rare. A lot of people disagree with me but the lack of intimacy is the number one problem in marriage. We can know a lot about a person without knowing the person. The key to intimacy is trust, unconditional trust which is what makes our relationship with Jesus so unique. He is totally trustworthy. I never try to keep anything from Jesus: first of all, it is impossible because He knows whether I tell Him or not and secondly it is not practical. Jesus is  the One person cares enough to listen and has the power to help.

• Great services and good attendance. We had 239 last night. Bro. Wade and David did a good job leading us. I want to thank Mandy for setting up a Nursery schedule and thanks to all those who stayed in the Nursery and who helped Shohn in Children’s Church. I want to thank the church for being very generous in your giving. I am extremely proud of what you did. It would not be fair to Wade for me to publish it on the web but the totals are in the tellers office. It was a good offering. We never appreciate our Tellers but they do a good job. They are highly competent which means I don’t have to worry about that aspect at all. I am thankful for the entire effort.
• TODAY WE PRAY FOR THOSE FACING TRIALS. Kenny Holladay is not having any good days. I suffers 24/7 with nausea. Please, everyone pray for Kenny. He is a noble man and he deserves our prayers. Lift him up to the Savior. Pray for David Andrews. He is the primary care giver for his aunt and uncle that was in the bad car wreck.  Darlene’s sister-in-law, Wendy Turner, had surgery on Tuesday. Pray for Wendy’s recovery: she had a hard surgery.
• Sunday is cow girl boot Sunday so ladies and $20 Day for the men. I want all men who can afford it to bring a $20 and I’ll tell you what to do when we get together. The $20 deal is for men only.
• GOLDEN GIRLS Saturday at Cracker Barrel…9:00 a.m.
• Veteran’s Day November 11
• November 16…Special recognition of DHS Volleyball Team followed by lunch for Team members and parents.
• November 16 during the PM service, we are going to dedicate the Ramp in the FORTE.
• Luke 14 Feast November 23, 5:30 PM
• Two more Chick-Fil-A Wednesday night suppers before Thanksgiving…Nov.12 and 19.
• I do the blogs on Word Press because it is free but the aggravating thing is that they have glitches in the program that they will not correct unless you pay. The one I hate is that I cannot set a dark font color such as black. The default is light gray which is not very attractive. Every time I make a correction, it will divert back to the default and I have to reset the font color. One of these days I am going to upgrade. The dark red is not an attempt to use Alabama colors. I have tried dark blue and purple but it doesn’t matter, it will change it back unless I post immediately. I just felt like sharing this: I know some of you are deeply concerned about my problems, not!

THE END IS NEAR

[By Bobby Storks]

 Sean is the vicar of a Protestant parish on the border of Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland, and Patrick is the priest at the Roman Catholic Church across the road.   One day they are seen together, erecting a sign which says, “THE END IS NEAR. TURN YOURSELF AROUND NOW, BEFORE IT IS  TOO LATE.”  As a car speeds past them, the driver leans out his window and yells, “Leave us alone, you religious fanatics. We don’t need your sermons or your advice.” From around the next curve they hear screeching tires and a big splash. Shaking his head, Father Patrick says “That’s the third one this mornin’.” “Yaa,” Sean agrees, then adds, “Do ya think maybe the sign should just say “BRIDGE  OUT”?

Jesus Knows Me This I Love

Day 4 of 24

SCRIPTURE

O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.

~Psalms 139:1, NLT

QUOTE

God is big enough to love us individually, call us individually and walk with us through life in spite of our character flaws.

~Stephen Arterburn

The Fonz

Most of us have character flaws although some cover them better than others. Not all but most bible characters have obvious flaws: Moses had a bad temper–Elijah was a recluse–David had a lustful eye–Peter was impetuous–Thomas was a doubter and on and on. Even Joseph, whom seemed perfect was a socialist. I know you think I am wrong but go back and reread, when Joseph got through, Pharaoh owed the entire nation except for the temples and the land devoted to their pagan priest. What would you change about yourself if you could reconstruct your DNA? I know, some of you are like the Fonz on Happy Days, you wouldn’t change a thing.

The good news is that Jesus will have the last word and we will become something pleasing to HIM. Our faults and failures may tend to get us down here and now but better times are coming for all who believe in Jesus Christ. We know Jesus loves others more than we do but have you considered the fact that He loves you more than you do and yes, He knows all about you: every secret and every sin.

• Today we pray for SENIORS. Let’s focus on Judy’s class today: Lou Hayes, Sarah Hooper, Joyce Chaney, and Vellene Tanner.
• No Deacons meeting today. Bible Study at 9:00 and worship at 10:15…Cookout at 5:00. We have ribs and chicken but you have to bring the trimmings.
• Bean Bag Tournament at 4:00
• Office Closed on Monday…COLUMBUS DAY

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The problems we face today exist because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living.”

~David M. Wood

Remember and Learn

SCRIPTURE

But just experiencing God’s wonder and grace didn’t seem to mean much to the Israelites—most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased.

1 Corinthians 10, MSG

QUOTE

Creating a god you can control and comprehend is called paganism.

~Yaakov

You know I am fond of list and you can find one in 1 Corinthians 10: the proposition Paul makes is we should learn from the mistakes of others. The mistakes the Israelites made are recorded as a warning to us not to do the same…

• We must be on guard so that we do not get caught up in demanding our way.
• We must not turn our worship into a circus that is designed to bring pleasure to us rather than pleasure to God. [Worship is never about us: no mere human is worthy of worship]
• We must not be sexually promiscuous. The Israelites were and 23,000 died in one day. Our politically correct society will not tell the truth: “Promiscuous and perverted sex is highly destructive both to soul and body.”
• We must never put God to the test when it comes to serving our interest: we must be devoted to serving His interest. The Israelites were selfish and God unleashed an epidemic of poisonous snakes.
• We must stop stirring up discontent–the Israelites did and it cost them their future and the promise land.

Dr. Junior Hill coming to DBC August 21, 2016

As a part of the celebration of my last month at DBC, Junior has agreed to come and preach for us on Sunday morning, August 21, 2016. Remember, this man has an open invitation to practically every Southern Baptist church in the country. What an honor it is to have Junior as a friend and to have him preach for us one more time God willing. Neither Junior nor I are assuming anything: God may have other plans and His plans are always better than ours. At the same time, I have to tell you that Joe David and I are excited. Everybody loves Junior.

• We had over 100 for supper last night: can you believe it! We had 120 in AWANA. Our total last night was 202 with 16 van riders. It is either the 3rd or 4th week in a row that we have went over 200.
• Baby shower for Zack and Kimie Cochrane this Saturday at the home of Sandy Cochran: 2;00-4:00. It is a boy!
• FRONT PEW shower for Katie Matthews Sparkman this Sunday: Girl’s, three of them.
• GOLDEN GIRLS have been rescheduled for October 11.
• Today we pray for those having trials and we have a long list: First, I will list the cancer patients… Linda Dutton, Bonnie Moore, James Floyd Bailey, Angie Blackburn, Kenny Holladay and Larry Garner. I beg you in Jesus name to lift our friends battling this dreadful disease up to the Father. Those sick or recovering from surgery, wrecks, etc…Dale Marbut, Barney Ray Sessums, Jim Bonner, Shannon Garrison, Dale Boyd and Bill Wilbourn.
• Mandy has the offering envelops fixed for this Sunday: Grace, IMB and Gideon, all you have to do is go to the welcome center and pick up your choice. It will be as easy as falling off of a log.
• Everything is subject to change because as we were reminded Tuesday, “You never know what a day will bring,” but LORD willing we will be out of town Friday and Saturday. I will be getting in late Saturday night [if I get in at all]. I need prayer, Jerry is driving and Tim is navigating: trust me, it is not a good combination. Pray for Jerry Allen to go with us: he will not let his daddy drive.
• No Deacon’s Meeting Sunday morning. Actually, they will get two weeks off.
• Burger Queen is pro-gay rights. Even though they promoted their gay pride whopper in San Fran-sissy-co only, there is a possibility that they will promote the gay pride burger nation wide. You can get more info at AFA. It offends me and I have not been to Burger Queen since I found out in July. There is no way the Burger Queens can survive in the South if Christians stop patronizing them. Folks we have to take a stand somewhere. We can live without Burger Queen.  I don’t care how you feel about it, do what is right!

POEM FROM BOBBY

The Secret

One day, one friend asked another, “How is it that you are always so happy?

You have so much energy, and you never seem to get down.”

 With her eyes smiling, she said, “I know the Secret!”

“What secret is that?” To which she replied,

“I’ll tell you all about it, but you have to promise to

share the Secret with others.”

“The Secret is this: I have learned there is little I can do

in my life that will make me truly happy.

I must depend on Christ to make me happy and to meet my needs.

When a need arises in my life, I have to trust Jesus to supply according to HIS riches.

I have learned most of the time I don’t need half of what I think I do.

He has never let me down.

Since I learned that ‘Secret’, I am happy.”

The questioner’s first thought was, “That’s too simple!”

But upon reflecting over her own life she recalled how she thought a bigger house

would make her happy, but it didn’t!

She thought a better paying job would make her happy, but it hadn’t.

When did she realize her greatest happiness?

Sitting on the floor with her grandchildren,

playing games, eating pizza or reading a story,

a simple gift from God.

Now you know it too!  We can’t depend on people to make us happy.

Only Jesus Christ in His infinite wisdom can do that.

Trust HIM!

And now I pass the Secret on to you!

So once you get it, what will you do?

YOU have to tell someone the Secret, too!

That GOD in His wisdom will take care of YOU!

 

The LORD Is My Strength

 

SCRIPTURE

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

~Psalm 73:26

QUOTE

There is only one Being who can completely satisfy to the absolute depth of the hurting human heart and that is the LORD Jesus Christ.

~Oswald Chambers

God is infinitely perfect and immutable, He does not change. He is perfect in all His ways and attributes. Therefore, He is perfect in His faithfulness and love. When all else fails, God can be trusted. Jesus trusted no man because He understood our human nature and knew we have a propensity to fail. Jesus was neither shocked nor angry when Peter denied Him. He knew Peter would fail but loved him anyway. Jesus never put His confidence in people but that didn’t make Him cynical or judgmental; He always relied on His Father in heaven. Some times we are demanding of others,  expecting more than they can produce. If your trust is in humans, any human, you will ultimately be disappointed. There is only one person who you can trust completely and that is Jesus. It is fine to love people but don’t idolize them; you’re setting yourself up for disappointment if you do. Men fail but Jesus never fails. I think someone wrote a song saying this very thing. The chorus goes like this…

Jesus never fails. Jesus never fails.

You might as well get thee behind me, Satan

You cannot prevail, because Jesus never fails.

 

• GOLDEN GIRLS Saturday morning at Cracker Barrel in Hartselle at 9:00 a.m.
• Really big week coming up…pray for the mass visitation on Wednesday night. We are getting the gifts and the bags lined up. If any of you are really gifted on maps, I could use your help. I would like to know exactly how many stops we are going to be making. Right now, I have 30 routes in mind but I think of new ones every day. Let’s pray for 30 teams and that is with 3-4 to a team. Families can do this: it’s trick or treat in reverse, you are giving them a gift.
• Guatemala Team arrived safely but you knew that already: I’m not as fast as facebook.
• Children come in today.
• My proof reader retired early last night so I had no one to proof read. You probably saw a lot of mistakes but I have to switch gears and study for Sunday.

 

Peace

SCRIPTURE

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

~Philippians 4:7

QUOTE

If the basis of peace is God, the secret of peace is to trust Him.

~J.N. Figgins

It is not hard to be at peace when everything around you is going smoothly and under your control but this is not real peace. Real peace is the inner calm of God’s Spirit reigning in your heart when all around is chaotic and everything seems to be going wrong. We get this peace that surpasses all understanding by trusting Christ and staying focused on HIM, not the problems. His peace will keep us calm so that we can process solutions and deal effectively with the circumstances. Don’t settle for the world’s peace which is fickle, fragile and fleeting. Put all your confidence in Christ.

Mrs. Eloise Maddox was promoted yesterday [4:30 am]. She got to spend a quiet day Sunday with her family. It will be a MOTHERS DAY that will be cherished.  She is a fantastic and very, very sweet lady. Friends will have an opportunity to visit with the family Friday night 6:00-8:00 at Pecks. The Celebration of Life Service will be Saturday [May 17] at Pecks. Mrs. Maddox daughters got her a mini lap top some 3-4 years ago so she could read the blog. She read it every day until a couple of months ago. When Mr. Jack departed this world, she ask me to sit with the family at the service. Both Jack and Eloise Maddox were refreshing spirits to me. They always encouraged me and as long as the LORD gives me mind to remember, I am sure I will remember them.

• Two more Wednesday suppers, tonight being one of them. Remember the deadline is 10:00 am this morning {May 14}
• Big Mama, Chloe and myself saw something last night that everyone should see. It was a baseball game for handicapped or mentally challenged children. We went to see Clara play. I went thinking everyone would be in a wheel chair but there were only 6-8 in chairs. The Downs Syndrome children can run and so can some of the others. There is no arguing with umpires; there are no umpires. All the fans cheer for all the kids. For a child to hit the ball in fair territory and touch all the bases is rare: there is a lot of grace in their game. What impressed me is how they celebrate what we take for granted; things that we could consider small. It takes some of them a full minute to get around the bases. No outs, no strikes: just hits, runs and cheers. Every game ends in a tie. Actually Clara would be one of the few who could keep score. Most of them do not have the mental capacity to keep score. They just have fun and love on each other. It moved my hard heart and it needed to be moved. I’m glad Clara invited me: it was good for the soul.

Sent Into The Storm

SCRIPTURE

Immediately He {Jesus} made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away.

~Matthew 14:22, NASB

QUOTE

“God can’t deliver you out of something that you don’t have the courage to get into.”

~ E.V. Hill

COMMENTARY

Immediately after Jesus feed the 5,000, He commanded His disciples to get in a boat and cross the sea of Galilee. Jesus sent the crowd home and then went to the top of the mountain to pray. Meanwhile, His disciples got caught in the middle of a terrific storm. Jesus is God and He knew the storm was coming but He commanded them to get into the boat and set sail for the other side. Why would Jesus deliberately send His disciples into a storm?

He did it to teach them. They didn’t take good notes at the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus wanted to teach them to rely upon Him for every need and in every circumstance of life.  What were the lessons from the sea?

1. Obedience to Christ does not give us immunity from trials and difficulties.
2. Storms teach and test: the storms reveal our lack of faith and they magnify our doubt and fear. The disciples thought they were ready for college but this storm made them realize that they were in kindergarten.
3. Storms not only reveal our weakness, they magnify the power of Christ. This storm gave Jesus an opportunity to show them his incredible power. Jesus showed the disciples that He was greater than the storm.
4. Storms teach us to rely on Christ and not ourselves.
5. Storms teach us that Jesus is omnipresent. If you are in a storm, look for Jesus. The fact that you don’t see Him right away doesn’t mean that He is not in the storm with you. He was with His disciples long before they realized it.

EXTRA

• Week going by fast for us. If Revival had anything to do with food, we would be having one. Our hotel suite is still filled with food, we got a fresh cake delivered yesterday and LISA’S BUFFET is open every night and you never know who is going to show up. Last night we had a magician named Dale. He did some pretty amazing stuff but when I gave him a $5 and told him to turn it into $100, he was stumped. We also meet Joey the deer hunter. He sees 15 anytime he goes. I think they have more deer in L.A. Seth would love it here.
• Pray for our service tonight. We have had some good ones but I still fill like we have fallen short. Revival is a God thing for sure.  Mercy drops round us are falling, Oh for a down pour we plead.
• We have decided to stay in Mobile tonight and drive home tomorrow.
• Forgot to take my camera last night and I don’t have any pics. What about a Kinkade!